It's
roots had dug themselves into space, enwrapping it and embracing it,
becoming the veins of its it empty body, all existence moving within
it's infinite web. There was nothing to defy it, nothing to
challenge it. Boundless time stood, with a reach of forever, and no
dreams, no goals, no feelings. Just one long road to travel on, with
no destination.

And no stops along the
way. Listening to the sound of his own breath, Captain Rret
Donnaar felt a longing for his youth again. The field rolled out in
front of him, filled with the rich smell of young pine from the
forest ahead, and what smelled like fruit on some of the trees and
berries on the bushes. The land was mainly flat from the forest to a
rock stack that stood some fifty feet below a large hill. Rret was
the only occupant on the hill, left alone at the top with a
sensational view of the beauty in front of him. It had been too long
since he had gotten peace like this. What was puzzling him was why he
was enjoying it so much. He had never been a huge supporter of
relaxation time, always feeling that he never needed it. Rret was a
strict Captain, with a "no room for error" policy and the will to
back it up. Peace just never seemed to relax him as it did his
subordinate crewmen.

Feeling
a little flushed in all his thoughts, the Captain was gracious when a
clam, peaceful wind brushed his body, cool and refreshing. It was
truly wonderful to experience again.

As
he gazed out across the sunbathed plains, he imagined himself as a
child, running with fervor and energy through the fertile green
grass, not a care in the universe. His inner-self yearned for the
feeling of wind flying past his face, of jumping and playing like he
had on his school-grounds long ago, for the joy of freedom that only
a child could have. Unlike many of his old family and friends, Rret
still had clear memories of the fun he had in his younger days. Most
of the memories had included his brother, Yulna. They spent days
together when then would do nothing but swim in the lake near their
forest house. Both were fond of thrills, their favorite being simple
rope swings, which they made many of at any spot where the excitement
would be at its highest. Hours were wasted just jumping from
branch-to-branch in fun but dangerous games of tree tag. They had
wings on their backs, but Rret had discovered that flying was always
less exciting than looking down from the tallest branch of a tree and
letting the danger of the distance flood the body with a tingling
feeling. Then his mother would somehow find out about their tree tag
games(his little sister Sayyu had always been a tattler) and scold
him and his brother until finally sending them to their burrows,
where they would laugh hysterically at their mother's face every
time she—

Rret's
eyes widened suddenly. Damn! Hidden behind his face was the
inner fear and sadness that accompanied every happy memory Rret had
of his times with his brother. They all fell together on one memory.

The
sun had been out bright in the afternoon, and he and Yulna were
sitting at the top of one of the tall kooleg trees near their
home. A small orus squirrel was on the branch next to them,
hissing in anger as the two poked sticks at it and mocked it. The
squirrel was twitching its tail, crouched in a defensive position,
ready to pounce at the next person who touched it. Rret had been
ready to trap it in a net, but never got the chance. A moment before
Yulna was to poke the creature again, a crizzil vulture, who
had camouflaged itself in the leaves of the tree, attacked. Its
target had been the squirrel, but Rret and Yulna had gotten the
creature so tensed that it jumped out of the way at the first sound
of the vulture approaching it from behind. As the predator ascended
back up into the sky, it's talons, raked to grab the squirrel,
slashed Yulna across the face, poking out an eye and opening three
deep gashes in his face.

Rret
sometimes heard his brothers cry of pain in his nightmares.

Yulna had
instinctively grabbed his face in anguish, and had lost his balance
in the process, tumbling off the branch and falling several stories
before opening his wings. Rret had managed to catch his brother
before he hit the ground, but by that time, he had lost a great deal
of blood. To make bad things worse, there were insects in the forests
on Rret's homeworld, Shalene, that fed on any wounded animal they
could find. Once those insects smelled the blood, they raced onto
Yulna's face, shearing off more flesh with every tiny bite. Rret
had tried to defend his brother, but in the end he failed. By the
time he had driven the bugs away, Yulna's face has practically been
opened to the bone. That face still haunted Rret's nightmares.

Slowly,
the images of childhood faded to the back of Rret's mind. He again
became aware of time, of the thin pockets of gray hair on his scalp
and neck, of the wrinkles all over his dark skin, of his withered
wings, and of the cane his body was propped up against in his right
hand; the leg it was replacing had been permanently paralyzed in a
battle six months ago. The Captain had rejected the robotic leg
suggested to him. He wanted to be able to feel nothing from his leg,
for it made him feel more alive, reminding him that even in long
life, a man was still vulnerable to certain setbacks. The value he
placed on that leg was considered insane by most of his comrades, but
Captain Donnaar held battle scars in high regard, no matter how
gruesome they were.

Still,
even in his respect for the thing he had lost, the cane also reminded
the Captain that he was indeed old, and there was nothing on the road
of time that would change that.

Rret
grinned to himself. Not even the wishes of an old man. His
thoughts briefly drifted to his recent 102nd birthday,
when his whole remaining family had taken him on vacation to the
tropical moon Shalene Beta. His parents had once owned a summer
burrow on an island there, when Rret was barely a youthling, but his
father had lost the deeds to a criminal named Cornal in a bet;
however, by some twist of fate, the deeds were returned after Sayyu
won them in a duel with one of Cornal's assassins. The burrow was
one of the most decorated dwelling of any home on Shalene, with
hand-carved wooden statues, and rare spilek vines, which were
rich in sap and bejeweled with lek stones, a most precious
type of ruby. His father had always loved astronomy, and had his own
large observatory at the tallest end of three giant trees. Stargazing
was his favorite past-time, and he would spend hours at night,
finding all the planets that he could, and studying and re-studying
every star the lense could catch. Mother would always take flights
amongst the trees, gathering natural fruits and vegetables for
breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and sunbathing in the lush foliage of
the forest, a habit that Rret had never taken to well, but was a joy
of everyone else in his family. His siblings played like they always
did, but their mother was much lenient on where they could go the
island then she ever was when they were home on Shalene. They often
brought back animals to keep as pets, which they would all play with,
and then free them at the end of the summer. Rret and Yulna had both
learned to fly for the first time on the island, though they were
always jealous of their older brother Coul, who got to fly and play
wherever he wanted to on the island.

When Rret and the family
had arrived at the home for the first time since Cornal lost it, they
were thankful to find it in such good condition. Cornal's
mercenaries had barely touched it. None of the rooms had been
damaged; the observatory was still there, with the telescope locked
away in its storage closet; his father's starmaps were whole; the
cage space for all the animals was unfilled. The only thing Cornal
had taken were the spilek vines, which, Rret remembered, had
angered Sayyu. She had spent most of her summer days picking at the
ground beneath the forest, finding the lek stones. For the
most part, Cornal had treated the burrow with as much care as the
Donnaar family.

That
had been one of Rret's favorite birthdays. He was able to forget
his actual age for a week and relive almost all of his childhood
memories at the burrow. It had been the last time his wings were
strong enough to let him fly. The tops of the trees had never looked
any better on that one last flight—

The
peacefulness and serenity of memories were suddenly broken by what
sounded like a wave of static buzzing through the air. Rret closed
his eyes at the sound, letting out an irritated sigh. He hated being
interrupted when he was doing something important to him.

The
sound belonged to a standard issue United Alliance Incorporation
All-purpose Teleporter. Every starship in the Defense Force had their
own; the latest in ship-to-ship transport technology. Also, the
loudest piece of technology ever made as far as Rret was concerned.
This particular teleport had come from his ship in orbit, the U.S.S.
Fattosh.

The
teleportation was quick. After only a couple of moments of noise,
Rret sensed another person standing to his left, slightly over his
shoulder. He recognized the man to be human, one of the members of
his crew; Lieutenant Commander Brian Olben. At least two inches
shorter, the man had a crop of jet black hair on his head, with a
pair of jungle-green eyes to match. His cheeks were flushed with pink
as always, a trait of humans that Rret found distasteful, and his
chin ended narrowly, like the tip of a sword. The rest of his body
seemed normal by human standards. The dove-white uniform he wore hid
his rather large muscles well under its two layers. Rret had once
faced the man in a sparring match, and had been surprised to find the
stout human a worthy adversary. Despite his size, he was very strong.
The Captain still had a small bruise on his chest where Olben's
fist had hit in one match.

The
LT carried himself like a disciplined soldier, with big steps and a
stern frame. Everything was always so serious to Brian Olben.

"Pardon
me for bothering you, Captain, but you forgot your Compiece." He
spoke with as much softness as an angry teacher. "We weren't
quite sure where to find you."

Out
of the corner of his eye, Rret saw him extend his hand, holding out a
small metal disc; another piece of Alliance Inco. technology; the
standard issue Communication Microterminal. The one device that kept
every member of a starship's crew in contact with not only
themselves, but the ship's computer as well. It could access
non-restricted files instantaneously from anywhere within the signal
range, and could also contact any part of the ship in case of
emergencies. Personally, Rret liked the idea of the machine. However,
certain scenarios, like the one Rret was looking at, made the device
a very annoying liability, which is why he had on-purposely left it
in his quarters on the ship.

Rret
made no move to take the Compiece. "I left it up there for a
reason, Commander. I wanted to be alone down here, if you don't
mind." He continued to gaze at the beautiful view, making no
indication that he even saw Olben.

"I
understand, sir, but can you please carry it with you? It's
protocol, and I want to make sure you have it."

Rret
eyed the piece without moving. "Commander, I don't need it, and
I'm all right. It's a nuance. Please take it back and leave me
alone."

Olben's
voice remained as stern as before. "You have to have it, sir. It's
a requirement for everybody, and as first officer, I can't allow
you to go anywhere without this Compiece, for the sake of
communicating with you. Now, please, will you just take it?" He
extended the hand farther out.

While
a good sparring partner, Olben's reputation to voice his thoughts
at his own free will was what led Rret to dislike the man. He was
constantly arguing with the Captain on the best course of action in
just about everything. Once, their arguing had caused Rret to
accidentally shoot one of his own crewmen in the stomach. Luckily,
the shot hadn't killed, but it had surely damaged Olben's
credibility as a first officer.

Rret turned his shoulder
out towards the other man, glaring in anger. "Talk to me like that
one more time and you'll be cleaning out the incineration chambers
by hand." He paused for a brief moment to let his words sink in.
"You don't dictate orders to me like that, Mr. Olben, they are
not yours to give. Do you understand me?"

Olben's
face tightened and his jaw tensed. Finally, he stood up as straight
as he could, like a soldier. "Yes, sir. I apologize." His looked
up at his Captain's face. "But I still have to do my job."

Rret
let some of the air in his chest out in a sigh. "Fine." He
reached out and dragged the Compiece out of the human's hand. "But
next time, teach yourself some manners please." Moving his arm to
attach the Compiece to his belt, he added, "The less annoyed you
are, the better attitude you'll have." He clicked the disc into
place. "There we go." He looked up again. "Satisfied,
Commander? You've done you're job. Now go back up to the ship or
find something else to do."

If
Olben was feeling any anger at all, he didn't show it. "I can't.
We're done. The final map was just finished and catalogued five
minutes ago. We've been trying to tell you that, sir, but you
haven't answered. We had no idea where you were, and at the time,
we thought maybe you had been hurt or had another spasm attack—"

Rret
shook his head. "As I said before, I'm fine, Commander, but thank
you for the concern." He sighed again, this time in disappointment.
"Have all the moons be taken care of?"

"Yes,
sir. Everything here has been mapped. We're done with this system.
Only planet left now is E-Epsilon-Five."

"Good."
He leaned his weight full against his cane. "Be sure to compliment
the stellar cartographers. They did well with the time they were
given."

Olben
bowed his head. "Yes, sir." His eyes reflected the urgency of his
visit.

Rret
nodded his head slowly, acknowledging his first officer. "Well,
give me a few more minutes down here first." I never seem to get
a break from this job. "Then I'll be up and we can be on our
way. Tell Ravern to set a course for Epsilon-Five. We'll be
underway within the next five minutes."

Olben
hesitated, but then nodded. "I'll tell him when I get back to the
bridge." He turned and walked away from Rret, calling back, "Enjoy
your view, sir."

"Thank
you," Rret responded.

A
few moments later, the teleporter sound buzzed again and was gone.

'We
thought maybe you had been hurt or had another spasm attack...'
Rret felt the breeze come one more time, wisping his gray hair
all around his head in calm fury. He closed his eyes and enjoyed it
as much as he could. When he opened them again, the relaxation he
felt was overwhelming. However, clouds had come within the last few
minutes, and were now blanketing the sun in a cottony frenzy. Without
the golden-yellow beams, the view suddenly became less exhilarating
than it was before, and Rret found himself suddenly wanting to return
to the ship, as he now felt a wave of exhaustion coming.

So
he turned and walked to the very top of the hill. Thank you, Mr.
Olben, for reminding me of how old I am, he thought spitefully.
Not even bothering to get in one last glimpse of the landscape, he
pressed the button at the center of the Compiece. "Donnaar to
teleport station two.. Ready to come up."

Seconds
later, Rret felt his body get sucked up by the Fattosh, while
time moved on like it always had.

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